More and more supermarket chains across Pennsylvania are acquiring restaurant liquor licenses, turning a portion of their stores into alcohol-infused cafes where customers can grab a drink with a meal or buy a 12-pack of beer to take home.

In the Lehigh Valley, the latest chain with plans brewing is Weis Markets Inc., the Sunbury, Northumberland County, supermarket company with 11 stores in the region.

Weis is in the early stages of planning beer cafes for its stores at 5580 Crawford Drive in Hanover Township, Northampton County, and 365 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. in Allentown. Weis already operates 31 in-store beer cafes in Pennsylvania, including local stores on Route 873 in North Whitehall Township, on Glenlivet Drive West in Fogelsville, on William Penn Highway in Palmer Township and on Sullivan Trail in Forks Township.

"Our customers appreciate the convenience of these cafes — they often tell us it saves them a trip," said Dennis Curtin, director of public relations for Weis.

The planned beer cafes will move Weis closer in line with a direct competitor: Wegmans Food Markets. While Giant Food Stores has several Beer Garden & Eatery locations in Pennsylvania, the closest one to the Lehigh Valley is in Bartonsville, Monroe County, company officials said.

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In the Lehigh Valley, Wegmans has stores in Allentown, Hanover Township, Northampton County, and Lower Nazareth Township. Jo Natale, Wegmans vice president of media relations, said the Market Cafe at the Hanover and Lower Nazareth stores sell beer and were granted restaurant liquor licenses in March 2008.

The Market Cafe at the Allentown store was granted a license in May 2009, and The Pub opened there in spring 2013 and serves beer, wine and spirits, Natale said.

The Weis and Wegmans stores in Hanover Township are separated by less than a mile, while the Allentown locations are 2.5 miles apart.

Weis Markets is opening several beer cafes in its Lehigh Valley stores.

(Chris Shipley/The Morning Call)

"Everybody's always trying to look for the new idea and one-up their rivals or at least keep up with rivals," said Neil Stern, a senior partner at Chicago retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle.

While Wegmans has been selling beer in the Lehigh Valley since 2008, Stern referenced Whole Foods Market Inc., the Austin, Texas-based upscale grocery giant with more than 400 stores globally, as the company that started the nationwide trend of supermarkets serving beer. In 2011, Whole Foods opened bars in several of its stores that serve craft beer and local wine.

Since then, food service has increasingly spilled over into the retail grocery industry.

"Is it essential to selling groceries? No," Stern said. "But what it represents is this blending of experiences together."

The restaurant liquor license for Weis' Hanover Township store would be transferred from Uncle Wesley's Inc., 1100 Bushkill St., Easton, according to a public hearing notice. Uncle Wesley's closed in December 2010.

A public hearing on the transfer has been scheduled before the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors at 7 p.m. June 23.

Weis is also looking to transfer a license from LouAnn Restaurant Group LLC, 129-131 Howertown Road, Catasauqua, to its store on South Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown. That hearing is slated for 6 p.m. June 17 before Allentown City Council.

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board records show both licenses are in safekeeping status.

An increasing number of supermarkets in Pennsylvania are doing exactly the same thing as Weis, buying restaurant licenses and selling six- and 12-packs alongside their deli, pizza and salad bar offerings. LCB spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman said more than 250 supermarkets and convenience stores in Pennsylvania have liquor licenses.

"Over the past few years, we've certainly seen an increase in the number of chains acquiring liquor licenses and opening beer gardens," Kriedeman said. "And that continues."

Supermarket chains have to acquire licenses — typically restaurant liquor licenses or eating place liquor licenses — because the distribution of licenses in Pennsylvania is regulated by a quota system, with one retail liquor license available for every 3,000 inhabitants of a county. Once the quota is met, no new liquor licenses can be issued, so chains have to buy existing licenses.

According to the LCB's fiscal year 2013-14 annual report, Lehigh had 2.87 retail licenses per 3,000 people, while the figure in Northampton stood at 3.49.

To transfer a license into a municipality, the buyer must get municipal approval before the LCB considers the application.

After getting the appropriate approvals, supermarket beer cafes still have rules to follow. Supermarkets must have seating for at least 30 people in the beer cafe or beer garden, and the space must be at least 400 square feet and separated from the grocery store.

At the Weis store in Fogelsville, the beer cafe, containing a seating area and a few short aisles of craft, import and domestic brews, is tucked away in the front corner of the supermarket next to the produce.

The regulations have kept Berks County-based Redner's Markets Inc., which has several warehouse markets in the Lehigh Valley, from selling beer in any of its stores. If the state eliminated the need for a seating area, among other requirements, then Redner's would be interested in selling beer at its markets, company spokesman Eric White said.

While supermarkets have made it easier for customers to buy their suds, they also create competition for beer distributors.

Tanczos Beverages' location on Jacksonville Road in Hanover Township is just 3 miles from Weis and 2 miles from Wegmans.

Mark Tanczos, president of Tanczos Beverage and a member of the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors, said that while the recent decision allowing Pennsylvania's retail beer distributors to sell 12-packs has helped him compete, Wegmans selling beer nearby has hurt his business.

The addition of a Weis beer cafe won't help, either.

"It will take some customers, some business from us because of that convenience factor," Tanczos said. "We're just going to have to compete."